The Graduate School of Business and Economics’ Executive Education program recently saw two world leaders in governance and risk management speak on the different ways in which corporate and public governance is approached in Australia compared with the rest of Asia.

As part of the two-day Governance and Risk Management in Asia program, visiting Associate Professor Peter Verhezen and National Managing Partner Audit at KPMG Melbourne Peter Nash shared their experiences and expertise with students.

The Executive Education program caters for managers and executives with more than 10 years’ professional experience, who wish to further advance their education and support their career development.

Chair of Marketing and Director of Executive Education Professor Simon Bell said participants benefitted from engagement with the teaching experience and resources of a world class institution.

“Our executive education programs are delivered by leading academics and business management experts in dynamic, two-day workshops that encourage the exchange of ideas and best practice,” he said.

“Case studies, simulations and group discussions challenge and inspire participants.”

The recent Asia program was developed to highlight the importance of cultural intelligence to participants, who included senior professionals from Oxfam Australia, ANZ, NAB, Invest Victoria, Aurecon, and the Department of Justice.

The speakers said differences in corporate and public governance practices and the associated risks were important considerations for businesses and business people working in Asia.

Dr Verhezen said “only Singapore and Hong Kong are almost at par in terms of corporate governance with our governance standards”.

He said Australia was often perceived as a benchmark in terms of best corporate governance practices for the rest of Asia.

The risk perspectives of the newly globalising Asian businesses – from China, East Asia and India in particular – was another key focus area of the course.

“One should be aware of the differences in order to avoid bad surprises. The risks can be quite significant.” Dr Verhezen said.